Touch of Light
by DreamEscape16
Summary: <html><head></head>He carried his friend, holding him against his heart and followed the golden squares of light guiding him out of the darkness. "I'm making a new promise." he declared from the bottom of his soul, placing his hand over his friend's wounded chest. "I will never let you go, James Barnes." (Cover image belongs to pain-art.)</html>


**Touch of Light**

**All Captain America characters belong to Marvel Comics**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>{I dedicate this short story narrative to all my readers and followers.}<p>

Art credit belongs to pain-art

His boots sloshed into the murky puddles of blood on the cement, forcing his stomach to churn when his stern blue eyes stared at the desolation of humanity visible under the beams of faint light. Lifeless bodies of rogue HYDRA operatives laid face down in the puddles of maroon forming underneath their vacant shells, backs and skulls compromised by untraceable bullets.

Straining a breath out of his lungs, Steve traversed himself over the heaps of broken rafters, his feet crunched over the shards of scattered glass, and creaks were replaced by silent moaning as the air became saturated with the miasma of death.

Feeling his heart cramp against his ribs; the super-soldier grappled and pushed through the obstruction of debris littering the room, but hope stilled and kindled within him. Gritting his teeth, he lifted up a rafter with one arm, once he caught a glimpse of silver gleaming in the shafts of morning light.

Steve's gloved fingers bled, and his knuckles throbbed as he tossed the board aside; before crashing to his knees, and moved his hands frantically over scraps of metal covering over an unconsciousness body. There was no time to check for a pulse, the soldier followed his gut, and cleared a passage for him to grip a leather hand laden on the ground, he wrapped his arm underneath the man's back, lifting him to his lap.

He yanked off the hard black mask off the face, and then stared at the full lips and chiseled jaw coated with runny blood. The man's skin was pale, an ashen hue, eyes closed and disheveled shoulder lengthen hair swathed over the sides of his gaunt face, like chestnut drapes. In those few seconds, Steve saw his best friend James Buchanan Barnes in the light of dawn as the semblance of the Winter Soldier melted against the rays of warmth.

He was alive.

Fingers caressed over Bucky's cold skin, and his split lips only parted to release a faint breath. He was in rough shape, wounded by gunshot wounds in stomach; face battered and bruised, and tiny shards of glass from the broken windows stuck in the hollow nook of his jaw and broad neck.

"Bucky," Steve whispered, hoping his friend would respond to the desperation laced in his voice. The assassin was fading in his arms, blood was pouring out from his deep wounds, and his body jerked with the eruptions of feverish chills.

Clots of tension pulled in his muscles, Steve looked deeply at his friend's lazed face. He knew that he would only have a short time to say the things etched over his heart. Tears dripped over Bucky's lips, washing away the stains of blood.

"You were always there for me," he spoke in a sparse tone, sorrow warped his vision in squares of golden light. "You told me never quit fighting, even when the bullies had me on the ropes."

He buried his face into the Kevlar vest, sobbing over the frozen heart of his friend. "You are my best friend," he choked out, inhaling the sickening stench of blood as it invaded his nostrils. "I'm sorry this happened to you...I'm sorry I didn't fall with you." He clenched his hand over the leather, his heart stammered against his chest. "I wanted to save you. Can you hear me, Bucky Barnes, I wanted to save you from entering that frozen hell and bring you home."

He lifted his head, settling his stare of glistening crystal azure to the window frame, and looked at the clusters of brownstone buildings and the bridge in the distance. "You are home now, Buck. You're back where you should be in Brooklyn."

Steve paused in the cadence of his broken words; wiping away his tears blurring in his eyes. "I'm going to be with you until the end of the line, but I need you to fight this, Buck." he cried feeling his voice trailing away, but he shielded his friend in a warm embrace, securing his arms over the shivering form.

After steadying his breath, Steve stroked his shaking fingers gently through the dark brown strands of Bucky's hair, raking away the glass.

"I just want you back, pal." he spoke in breathy timbre of anguish, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. He refused himself to defeat, he would not allow Bucky to be taken away from him, not after all those years of carrying grief laden in the layers of his heart. "I need you, James Barnes."

The world spun around him. Everything became disjointed into jaded pieces and desperation was taking hold, dragging him into a void as his soul drowned in a river of tears. "Please," Steve whispered in low pitch of breath, holding Bucky's securely against his chest.

Smears of blood painted over the carved lines of youthful and hardship. Bucky was breathing out ragged breaths through his clamped teeth, thrashing against the pavement viciously, and snarling out his pain.

"I need you to stay with me, pal." he choked out a sob; his deep blue eyes welled with tears as he writhed in merciless agony. Steve tried to hide the anguish of losing his best friend. He was afraid of letting him go. "Just hold on with me," he pleaded, his soul tearing into pieces of thread.

"Stop," Bucky licked lips collecting the crusted maroon on the edge of his bruised mouth. He made a promise in another lifetime that he would never leave Steve. He opened his eyes, just enough for the shimmers of wintry blue to gather the radiance around him. He grasped and made a choking sound as blood dribbled down his jaw. "Steve..." He said with a dimming tone. "You came back for me..." he clasped his lips and mustered up a faint whimper, his mind fading into a delirious stage.

He lifted up his metal hand, fingers were covered in blood. "I never wanted this..." he cried and his grayish blue eyes coated with tears, as his face became a hue of ashen gray.

"I wanted to grow old with you in Brooklyn...Just like good friends do when they shared a life. We didn't have a life together." He swallowed down his pain."We both drifted."

His mouth trembled as he fought against the fear of detachment. He didn't want to leave Steve alone. One heart beat. Then a jolt of agony. Three breaths of struggling to live. And, he lifted his glistening blue eyes, and stared at the glares of sunlight reflecting over the glass windows of buildings. It looked like a halo shining over the dark labyrinth of the city.

"Bucky," Steve soothed with a gentle cadence in his low voice. He ripped a piece of his uniform, and placed over the opened wound. "You're going to make it, Buck. You heal fast-remember?' He drew out a pant of desperation. "You're strong just like I am." He watched Bucky's full, blue tinged lips shift into a frail smile. "We made a promise." He sobbed, managing to swipe a finger under his pointed nose as tears rushed down his face. "You said that we would never leave each other...that we'll fight at each other's side until..."

"Until the end of the line..." Bucky smiled brightly up at Steve, and his soft, fathomless stare became glistening pools of temperate, fearless azure. His lips never faltered into a grimace as he spoke with frail voice, he choked up more blood. "I will never leave you, punk. We're brothers until the end." he avowed.

Steve shook his head, wildly, shedding out his bottled up sorrow. "No, Bucky." He growled out a fierce breath. Everything was pouring out of him. His shoulders shook, and hands balled into fists. He gripped Bucky's leather vest, squeezing it hard, he needed something to hold on to as his heart sank to the ground beneath him. "I wanted to save you!" he roared out, slamming his arm into the wall, not caring if the bones detached. "I wanted to save you when you fell..."

"Oh, Steve you already saved me," Bucky placed his shaky, real hand on his friend's quivering shoulder. "I would've been lost without you." He glanced into Steve's glistening eyes, "Hey," he said in a sparse voice. His eyes burned with defiance. "I'm not afraid to die, Stevie. This is my freedom...You gave it back to me. Thank you."

"I don't want to be selfish, Buck." Steve confessed and his gaze wandered down to blood soaked leather swathed over his friend's midsection. His breath ceased in his chest. The world shuttered to a halt around him.

The sick, twisting grief made his shiver out his words. "I can't let you go. I'm not strong enough for you to be taken from me. Not again." He dismissed a stammering breath. He felt his resilient soul become diminished as the light in his eyes faded into the darkness. The vague scent of blood told him that his friend's life was now hanging by a thread billowing against the cold rifts of time. "It's not fair...I just got you back. Now, you're going away..."

"It's not really that far..." Bucky echoed back. His eyes shining as clear as sapphire crystal. His lips twitched and pulled his sullen expression into a deep, warm smile. He moved his hand down Steve's arm, and interlocked his metal fingers with Steve's own fingers. Bucky closed his real hand over Steve's knuckles. His muscles clenched and agonizing chill slithered down his throat, as it felt like he swallowed a cluster of ice that dropped against the surface of his weakening heart. His eyes watered and he swallowed. "I want you to promise me something..."

"Anything, Buck." Steve nearly choked out a reply. His heart pounded rapid against his chest.

"Take Natasha out dancing'... She is a remarkable woman," He watched Steve look down, dismayed. "If you don't ...I'll come back and kick your stupid, noble ass."

"I will, Buck," Steve gave him a grim frown, "You're going to make it, Buck. You're too stubborn to die." He sealed his eyes shut, pressing his lips into a tight line of anguish. "You need to keep your promise. Remember?"

"Of course I remember," Bucky replied, giving his friend a frail smirk, his pale blue eyes had filmed with tears. He took Steve's hand encompassing metal over flesh. He saw the shattering look in Steve's powerful blue chasms. It pierced his heart. "Don't be so dramatic, Steve. We all have to go home sometimes." He flashed his friend a bright smile that reached his dimming eyes.

"Not today, soldier," Steve growled in a firm voice, wrapping his broad arms over Bucky's trembling and limp form, and lifted him gently off the floor.

He carried his friend, holding him against his heart and followed the golden squares of light guiding him out of the darkness. "I'm making a new promise." he declared from the bottom of his soul, placing his hand over his friend's wounded chest. "I will never let you go, James Barnes."

Bucky smiled back at him, lifting his metal hand and touched Steve's face, he felt his heart beat growing stronger. "I'm not going to leave, not when you're fighting this suicide mission alone, Steve Rogers."

In those moments, Steve carried his friend close to his heart, trudging over obstruction created by the dark cloud of HYDRA, and it felt like time froze around them; Bucky looked up at him with his bright blue eyes, holding his promise deep inside his wounded heart, and the shadows of his honorific past faded with a simple caress of dawn's early light.


End file.
